The 2012 Independent Spirit Award nominations were announced Tuesday -- to no one's surprise, Alexander Payne's The Descendants received multiple nods, including Best Feature, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Supporting Female.

Nicholas W. Refn's Drive was also nominated in multiple categories: Best Feature, Best Director, Best Male Lead (Ryan Gosling), and -- hooray! -- Best Supporting Male for Albert Brooks.

The Artist and Take Shelter were also nominated in major categories.

It looks like Elizabeth Olsen (Martha Marcy May Marlene) and Michelle Williams (My Week With Marilyn) will be battle it our for Best Female Lead, as both of their performances have received across-the-board raves.

We were pleased to see that Beginners was also recognized, though not in either lead acting category. Christopher Plummer was nominated for Best Supporting Male, and Mike Mills got a Best Director nod. Beginners was also among the Best Feature nominees.

While Margin Call won the Robert Altman Award and was nominated for Best First Feature, it did not get any acting nominations. Was Stanley Tucci snubbed?

Also noticeably, and entirely, absent: Tree of Life -- but that is probably due to its relatively large budget.

Without further ado (and with gratitude to Buzzsugar), here are the nominees:

BEST FEATURE 50/50 Beginners Drive Take Shelter The Artist The Descendants